Attention to Detail in Healthcare
I might be unusual in my general aversion to bright lights and stark white – in every office I have ever worked in I seek the switches to turn off the fluorescent lighting. The innovation in lighting and flexibility with bulbs that can change color and adjust has been a gift. When it comes to design I believe that you can make or break a room simply with the right lighting; and that’s not just the fixture and bulb but the color temperature, the color and hue and intensity.
When it comes to healthcare settings we need bright lights to see clearly. We also need bright lights that are consistent and provide a clear picture the person we are interacting with especially when it comes to visualizing skin conditions. Color lighting might be nice but if you put a blue tinge into the lighting you will either see or even miss a blue tinge in a patient’s pallor which is clinically significant.
So we have stark bright fluorescent, or if they have been updated LED lights that are more energy efficient. But they are stark, bright and unpleasant to stare at. So imagine the patient lying on a hospital bed or transport gurney staring up at these lights. That position is already puts stress on patients as I discovered when I spent a day as a patient as part of my medical training. I’ve talked about this in the past and am a strong proponent that we all need to experience our own business services (The Importance of Experiencing Healthcare First Hand) – for some that is as simple as navigating your own business website. The results of this might surprise you.
Sunglasses for Patients
In a recent visit to my dentist I was offered a protective set of glasses as I always am but this time they were ‘Sunglasses’. It was a simple idea but the difference to my mood and demeanor was instantaneous. Even with the special design of the task lighting in the dentist office the bright light still seeps out into surrounding areas and most dental offices I have been to also have bright functional white lighting that you ned up staring at while lying back in the chair.
Not this time. The brightness and harsh light was gone replace by a mellow dark shade and supplemented in this office with a nice picture mounted on the ceiling for me to stare at.
This was not a technology solution but a simple and easy step to improve the experience. From a cost stand point in the case perhaps a slightly more expensive set of safety glasses that included a dark shade to protect the eyes but otherwise standard equipment.
And, as my dentist said “I looked cool too”!
Incremental Steps
Everyone can make the experience better, start with small incremental steps:
- Start by assessing your customer experience. Actually experience it even if it is a basic walk through
- Ask your customers what would make things better
- Look at what Others are Doing – no point in re-inventing the wheel
Accessing healthcare is already challenging – we can all make things better for everyone
